Inspur, a leading Chinese provider of cloud and big data solutions, has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Merchant Bank (CMB) on 3rd April 2018. The agreement will see multi-faceted cooperation between the two organizations in financial technology (Fintech) to develop ‘smart finance’.

Specifically, Inspur will help CMB develop and utilize cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and other information technologies in China Merchants Bank’s Fintech ecosystem. The goal is to build end-user platforms for the bank’s precision marketing, credit and risk assessment, as well as loan monitoring. By injecting the latest technology into its systems, CMB wants to upgrade its business models and improve risk control systems, service quality and efficiency.

In addition to building smart finance platforms, the two organizations will also be working closely in other areas such as SME financing, ‘one-loan’ credit solutions, healthcare solutions and the icity365 public service online portal that Inspur has launched.

In its press release, Inspur said that this cooperation between the two sides will become a model for other financial institutions to join hands with Internet companies to create innovative solutions. With the development of next-generation information technology such as cloud computing, big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence, cross-disciplinary integration of finance and technology has become a main theme for innovation within many financial institutions. Many banks and internet giants have already joined forces to achieve complementary competitive edges.